If It Means A Lot To You
by ReignsSupreme
Summary: (AU) Seth Rollins is a homicide detective when he meets Amber, a sweet, sexy young woman he can't resist. But can it really last? As Seth's convictions as a detective are tested and his life is turned upside down, is there room for him to focus on a relationship or will it end before it starts? Seth/OC. First story in a series.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **_This is my first wrestling fanfic piece, though I've written for other fandoms under other pen names in the past. This story is the first in a multi-story series that's already been written in its entirety. The first installment (this one) involves Seth Rollins/OC. Future installments will also heavily involve Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose._

_While this series is AU-based, I also have a few based in the WWE Universe that I intend to publish soon. :)_

* * *

Having never been to a police precinct before, Amber had no idea what to expect as she stepped inside.

She ambled around the lobby for a moment before the woman behind the desk leaned forward, "May I help you?"

Amber bobbed her head, "I'm supposed to have my fingerprints taken." The woman only stared at her, a blank expression on her face, so she continued. "It's for a background check for a job. My name is Amber…"

"Amber Jacobs?" a deep male voice interrupted. She turned to face the source and blinked for a moment. He was tall with broad shoulders, even beneath his button down shirt she could tell how well he was built and couldn't help but admire it. She tore her eyes away from his body and looked up to meet his eyes questioningly. He was handsome, too. There was no denying that. "I'm Detective Rollins, we spoke on the phone earlier." He gave her a warm smile as she nodded silently. "Come with me and we'll see if we can't get this whole thing done and over with for you."

Amber followed him past the main entrance and towards the elevator bay, stepping inside with him once the doors slid open.

"Did you have trouble finding the place?"

She shook her head and finally found her voice again. "No. No trouble at all," she shrugged and smiled at him. "You gave very good directions, I didn't even have to use GPS."

He chuckled at that and, despite himself, let his gaze roam over the girl more appreciatively than he had downstairs. She was no taller than 5'2 and slender, with dark hair, pale skin and bright green eyes. He pretended to lean back against the elevator wall as his eyes raked over the curve of her back. The sundress she was wearing was fitted on top but flared out at her hips. _Get ahold of yourself, _he chided as the elevator doors slid open again and he gestured for her to follow him to his desk.

"So you're looking for a job with the mayor's office?"

"It's an analyst position with the city," she explained. "I mean, a decision is still pending after this background check, but my fingers are crossed. I graduated almost a year ago but the job market isn't really…what I'd hoped it would be."

She took a seat across from him and waited as he shuffled around with his papers. He asked her for her identification and she handed him her license and he thanked God for the forms in front of him so he could avoid looking up at her.

"Name is..."

"Amber Jacobs."

"This is your current address on your license?"

"Yes, it is," she confirmed, watching him as he transcribed it over onto the card.

"Date of birth is…March 15, 1991 which makes you how old?" he asked hastily, not wanting to bother with the quick math.

"Twenty-three."

"Are you married?"

"No. Are you?"

His eyes shot up just as Amber clapped a hand over her mouth, her face growing pink with embarrassment.

"It's a spot on the form," he explained.

"I know. I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that," she said, her eyes squeezed shut in mortification.

"It's okay," he assured her, waiting for her to open her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding in. "And I'm not, actually." It was a struggle not to smile as her blush deepened. He continued with the rest of the questions on the form before gesturing for her to stand up. "Now comes the messy part," he said as he guided her further back towards a separate room to fingerprint her. Closing the door behind him, he held his hand out for hers and noted that her hand trembled lightly as she placed her left hand in his. "Easy there," he chuckled as he applied the ink to her fingers and placed down her card. "Okay, I'm going to place your fingers down one by one and roll them, don't try to help me, just let me do it. And we'll do our best to not get any on that pretty dress of yours."

"Is this how 'bad guys' get fingerprinted too?" she asked as he took the prints for her left hand and moved around her to apply the ink to the right.

"Basically. Usually it's a bit more of a struggle though," he said. Amber shifted her weight slightly and he was momentarily distracted by the fabric of her dress and the way the skirt rustled at her thighs. Standing close to her, he was acutely aware of the smell of her perfume – or maybe it was her shampoo. It was light and citrusy.

To say that he wasn't attracted to her would have been a damn lie. And while he was the perfect professional on the job, a secret part of him wanting nothing more than to bend her over the table they were using, push up her skirt and bury his cock inside of her.

He willed himself to think of anything other than their close proximity to each other as he finished the process and let go of her hand. Carefully setting aside the card to dry, he walked around her again to open the door for her. "Careful not to touch anything," he said gently as he gestured for her to turn down a small hallway towards the restroom. He pushed that door open for her as well, stepping in beside her and turning on the light as the heavy door banged closed behind them. He placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the sink for the one-person restroom and did his best to ignore her sharp intake of breath at the contact.

Still standing behind her, he reached forward for a small orange bottle. "Here, this stuff'll take the ink right off," he muttered as he turned on the water for her.

As Amber washed the blank ink away, she was acutely aware of his breath on her neck. He was still standing so close to her and she was sure he wasn't even aware of it. But her entire body tingled. She took a deep breath as she rinsed the last of the grimy ink off of her fingers and froze as her back pressed against his chest.

Her eyes shot up and met his gaze in the mirror over the sink. His eyes seemed to be begging a silent question and it took her a moment to realize it was his way of asking for permission. She bit her lip and nodded.

When he stepped away, Amber felt a wave of disappointment before she heard him press the lock on the door and suddenly he was behind her again, this time his hands reaching for her hips to pull her back against him again. She sighed as he pushed her hair aside and brushed his lips against her shoulder. He noted she was tense and chuckled, "Did you think I was leaving?" Feeling her nod, he nipped at her skin gently. "I should," he admitted. "Normally, I just pump the soap and show myself out. But I couldn't bring myself to do that with you."

"Why is that?" she asked softly, biting back a soft groan.

"Because you're beautiful and I can't help the fact that I'm affected by it," he murmured, fingers flexing as he gripped her hip tightly, pulling her back against him. Her lips parted in a gasp and he knew that he felt just how affected by her he was. "If you tell me no, it's okay," he promised gently. It was his turn to feel disappointment as she took a slight step away from him, causing him to drop his hold on her hips.

He expected her to leave, maybe to yell at him. But instead she just turned around stepped back towards him, peering up at him expectantly as her lips quirked into a small shy grin.

Immediately, he bent down, capturing her lips with his own. He backed her towards the sink again and reached down. His large hands found her thighs and he hoisted her up, resting her on the edge of the sink as her legs instinctively wound around his waist. He kissed her hungrily, one hand on her hip to keep her steady as she balanced there and the other moving up the smooth expanse of her thigh, past the hem of her skirt. She sucked in a breath as his fingertips found the lacy edge of her underwear.

"Are you sure?"

"You keep asking me that," she muttered before shifting to open her thighs wider. "You're not the only one affected, Detective." He felt her lips quirk against his and when he slipped his hand further up, cupping her sex. He groaned as he felt the dampness seeping through her panties and quickly pushed the crotch aside as he eased two fingers inside of her. A soft moan slipped passed her lips and he chuckled as he began to pump them in and out of her body. "Please," she whimpered, tilting her chin up to find his lips again. He knew all too well what she was asking for and he knew that they only had a limited amount of time.

Within moments, his pants were undone and he was thanking God for the condom in his wallet as he stepped between her thighs again. Her hips twitched as he deliberately dragged the head of his cock against her wet folds. The teasing only lasted a moment and then he was pushing himself inside of her.

"We have to be fast," he warned her. Her response was to lock her ankles behind him and use her heels to draw him further into her. As he began thrusting in and out, she was so tight and hot around him, he tried to remember multiplication tables, the perp he'd put in lock-up earlier that day, the way his Aunt Edna's house always smelled like cats – anything to distract him from how she fit around him so perfectly.

Her fingers gripped his shoulders, scrambling for purchase – for anything to hold onto as he continued to pound into her. Soft whimpers grew louder and he covered her mouth with his own to muffle the sounds. When they parted for air, she was biting down on her lip hard to keep herself quiet and met his gaze. Her eyes were dark and clouded with lust and she arched slightly, shifting her hips to start meeting his thrusts as best she could despite her precarious balancing act between him and the bathroom sink.

One of his hands left her hips and moved between them, and the sound of her muffled cry as he found her clit nearly drove him to his wit's end. But he was determined to get her off first.

"You like that?" he asked, his voice a low growl. "Show me how much. I want to feel you cum for me." He continued rubbing her clit and felt her thighs tremble and tighten around him. He covered her mouth with his once more to swallow her cries as she came around him, his own hips ratcheting forward as he found his own release a moment later.

They were both still trying to catch their breath when he pulled away from her completely, flushing the condom down the toilet and righting himself before turning to offer her a hand as she hopped down from the sink. The whole time as she fussed with adjusting her dress, she didn't say a word or meet his eyes. Stepping closer, he placed a hand on her shoulders, causing her to bristle.

"I'm really sorry. I'm just not really the sort to…I mean, normally I…I don't even know your first name," she fumbled.

"Seth," he said gently. "Seth Rollins. And I don't normally do this either, trust me." She looked up at him skeptically and his lips quirked up. "I'd like to see you again if that's okay with you."

Amber relaxed before bobbing her head slowly. She finished smoothing out her dress and glanced at the mirror. "How do I look?"

"Great," he assured her before guiding her towards the door to show her out of the bathroom and back to his desk, where she'd left her purse.

He glanced around to check their surroundings before moving closer to say something.

"Rollins!" his partner barked from towards the exit. "There you are, let's roll. We've got a call."

"I'll walk you out," he said to Amber, placing a gentle hand on the small of her back.

His partner's eyes narrowed on their approach, but he said nothing about Amber.

"What've we got?" Seth asked as the three of them walked towards the elevator and stepped inside.

"A double homicide downtown."

Seth noted Amber's posture stiffen slightly, so he decided to ask the rest of his questions once he was in the car with his partner. As they exited the building together, Seth ignored his partner's questioning look as he stepped off to the side with Amber, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You going to be okay getting out of here?"

Nodding her head, she tilted her head at him. "I will. Will you?" she asked, earning her a confused look from Seth. "Double homicides."

"Just another day in paradise," he assured her, squeezing her shoulder. "I have your cell number, I'll call you."

She nodded and offered him a weak smile before he stepped back to join his partner who'd already slid into the driver's seat of the Crown Vic.

"New friend?"

"Just shut up and drive, Orton," Seth muttered as he slid into the passenger's seat and cast one glance back at her in the side view mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

Hours after her encounter at the precinct with Detective Seth Rollins, Amber had willed herself not to look forward to a call from him. She wasn't normally the type to get into that kind of sexual encounter. In her twenty-three years, she'd been involved with one other man. But from the moment that she'd laid eyes on the detective, she'd been attracted to him. So for one brief moment she'd allowed herself to get carried away. For all she knew, he really did this sort of thing all of the time.

She busied herself around her apartment and was in the middle of making dinner when her phone buzzed to life on the small table behind her. Stepping away from the stove, she glanced at the caller ID and didn't recognize the number. Normally, she let calls from unknowns go to voicemail, but the small hopeful part of her made her thumb hit the accept button before lifting it to her ear.

"This is Amber."

"Amber Jacobs," his voice was soft and she couldn't help but smile.

"Detective Rollins," she greeted him calmly. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," he replied slowly and unconvincingly. "I was wondering if I could see you."

"Do you like chicken parmesan?"

"Uh…what?"

"I'm making dinner. I could make enough for two."

He chuckled and she felt herself blushing. "Text me the address and I'm on my way."

* * *

When she buzzed him up from the front of the building thirty minutes later, she wasn't really prepared. He was in the same clothes he'd been in earlier that day, but the crisp button down shirt was wrinkled and stained and his tie loosened around his neck. Her eyes went wide as she took in his appearance.

"Is that blood?" she asked, staring with wide eyes at the stains on his shirt.

"It's not mine," he said, exhaustion dripping from his voice. He watched a flurry of emotions flicker across her face and frowned. "I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry."

"Wait." Her hand quickly reached for his, pulling him into the apartment and closing the door behind him. Silently, she guided him to one of her kitchen chairs and pressed gently on his shoulder so he would sit. She stood in front of him, her hand coming up to cup his cheek and turn his face slightly as she examined him.

He realized she was checking him for injuries and he smiled softly, "I'm okay," he promised.

"Did you get the guy?" she asked.

"We did." His hands drifted to her hips, pulling her closer to him until she stepped between his knees. Her arms rested on his shoulders and she peered down at him. "Smells good," he remarked.

"I'm keeping it warm in the oven, I still need to…"

"No. You. I mean you smell good. Like citrus."

She let out a soft giggle and he gripped her hips a bit tighter. Bending down, she brushed her lips against his. "You smell like…you need a shower," she said teasingly. He pulled back and gaped at her for a moment before tickling her sides gently.

"Want to join me then?"

"Seth!" she exclaimed, her cheeks coloring. He laughed and she shifted, moving to sit on his lap. "I'll tell you what, if you want – you can jump in the shower here. I still have to make pasta and set the table anyway." He nodded slowly, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "There's a clean towel hanging in the bathroom right through there," she gestured.

Fifteen minutes later, she was transferring the pasta into a colander and he walked into the kitchen, dressed only in his trousers. Her eyes raked over his bare chest, lips slightly parted before she let out a curse and let the now empty pot clatter against the counter.

"You okay?" he asked her, moving towards her urgently.

"I'm fine, a bit of the water just…"

He was already turning on the tap and holding her fingers under the water. "Distracted by my body?" he suggested and chuckled when she blushed again. "How do I smell now?"

She leaned in and grinned up at him as she took a deep breath. "Much better. How do you feel?"

"I'll let you know in a minute," he muttered before leaning in and capturing her lips with his own. When her lips parted for him, he slipped his tongue inside and felt her moan into his mouth and pulled away, his nose bumping hers playfully. "Much better."

"We need to eat," she said softly, pushing him back gently.

"Can I help you with anything?"

She nodded as she took the chicken from the oven. "You can bring those plates over here for me."

When the two of them were finally settled at the table, Seth busied himself while he ate by looking around her apartment. Amber busied herself by watching Seth. "It's not much," she said quickly.

"No, I like it." He gestured around. "It's cozy."

"Is that polite-talk for small?"

"In this city? It's nice. It's very homey."

"Why did you want to come here tonight?"

"It was a rough day and I found myself not wanting to go home to my own empty apartment when all was said and done," he explained.

"But why here?"

"I thought that was obvious."

Amber placed her fork down and took a deep breath, looking up to meet his gaze. "Listen, earlier this afternoon…"

"Was different – for both of us. I know that, I also know that as much as this day was complete shit, the thought of seeing you again got me through it, Amber. And I don't know why, and I don't expect anything. I just…I couldn't go anywhere else."

"You don't even know me."

"Then give me the chance to."

* * *

By the time that they'd finished eating and loaded the dishwasher, Seth knew that Amber was born and raised in New York but had only moved to the city during college and had grown up in the suburbs. Her grandfather's side of the family owned the building her apartment was in and that was the only way that she was able to afford it, even with two part-time jobs. She'd applied to a few jobs, including some outside of New York, but hadn't heard back yet and now was working on getting this position with the city. She loved music but couldn't really play instruments – except two songs on the ukulele that involved the same three chords. She hated fruity cocktails, she believed in an afterlife but wasn't sure if she believed in God, and she had gotten out of a long-term relationship three months ago (and, no, he wasn't her rebound.)

Amber knew that Seth had grown up in Iowa but had gone to college in New York because it was where his girlfriend at the time had been going to school and so he'd followed her. She'd cheated on him during his sophomore year of college and they'd broken up and he hadn't dated anyone seriously since then. He loved his job, but he missed his family back in Iowa more lately. His favorite color was green, his favorite genre of music was metal but he was also a closet fan of the Beatles, and he was allergic to cats.

He was on his stomach on her floor in the middle of the living room, his eyes scanning the rows of vinyl records she kept on the shelf. "This is fucking unreal," he muttered as he reached out for one that caught his eye. She padded in barefoot from the kitchen, carefully holding two mugs. She held one out for him with fresh coffee inside; she'd made tea for herself. She sat down beside him with her legs crossed and smiled before holding her hand out for the record. She opened her bright red portable Crosley record player and put it on before sitting back down and picking her tea up off of the coffee table. He shifted to sit up and join her, grinning as the speakers crackled just before the start of the first song.

He was still shirtless and he watched her gaze drop down to examine his torso again before he inched closer, reaching for her hand until she put her tea down again and allowed herself to be pulled in. Their lips met and his hands found her waist as he slowly moved to lower himself to the floor again, taking her with him.

"This reminds me of high school," he muttered against her lips. "A good album on, making out in the living room with the prettiest girl in school hoping to God her parents don't walk in."

Amber giggled and pulled back slightly to look into his eyes, there was mischief shining inside of her bright green stare. "My parents are out of town for a few days," she said, her tone feigning innocence. "And I'm sort of scared to be home alone by myself."

He chuckled before pushing gently on her hip until she rolled onto her back and he shifted so that he was above her and brushed her hair away from her face. "Well, if you want, I can keep you company tonight."

She bobbed her head and tilted her chin up to capture his lips in a hungry kiss. He growled against her when she tugged gently on his lower lip with her teeth and he felt her fingertips skim down his bare chest for his belt. He reached for her wrists and pinned them to her sides, but without much force. "Nuh-uh," he drawled softly. "This right now is about you."

He let her wrists free before coaxing her to sit up so that he could drag down the zipper of her dress. She tensed slightly, but as he slid down one strap of the sundress he kissed his way from one shoulder across the top of her breasts to the other shoulder and she melted into him as he worked the fabric down her body until it pooled at her waist. Without having to be asked, she moved to lay back again and arched her hips so he could rid her of it completely. She wasn't wearing a bra and he pulled back just to take in the sight of her. When her shoulders hunched and she moved as though to cover herself, he grabbed her wrists again. Using his knee, he guided her thighs apart and settled between her legs as he pushed her hands down to the floor again. "You're beautiful. Perfect," he rasped. "Never hide from me." When she looked at him skeptically, he grinned smugly down at her. "Or I'll use my handcuffs," he joked but when she gasped and shuddered involuntarily, he filed that information away for another day.

Seth explored her body with his lips and took note of her reactions as he trailed over every inch of her he could reach. Her back arched when he suckled her nipples into his mouth and rolled his tongue over them. She was ticklish on the side of her ribs. She keened his name softly when he dipped his tongue into her navel as he tugged her panties away from her body. But when he pushed her legs wide and shifted down, his warm breath fanning over her glistening sex, she jumped.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Tasting you," he replied with a grin.

"You don't have to," her voice came out just a hair above a whisper.

"I know that, but I want to," he paused and looked at her. "Has no one ever…" he blinked up at her before crawling back up her body and kissing her softly on the lips. "Do you trust me?" When he felt her nod against him he kissed her once more and slid back down her body, pushing her thighs open and taking a moment to just admire her. She was wet and taut and so damn gorgeous.

He kept her eyes locked on hers for a moment before bending down and pressing a kiss to the inside of her thigh. She inhaled a sharp breath just before he brought his mouth to her sex, his tongue probing her most intimate place. One of his hands gripped her thigh to keep her open for him while he brought the thumb of his other to her clit, rubbing gently. Her body jolted beneath him and he chuckled against her just before her hands reached down for his head, fingertips threading into his hair. She tasted sweet and clean, just like he thought she might and within moments she was arching her body closer to his mouth. He slid a finger inside of her, moving to suckle on her clit and she cried out his name as he worked her senses into overdrive.

When he added a second finger inside of her tight heat, he picked his head up to observe her hips jerked, silently pleading for him to fuck her with his fingers faster and harder. When he gently bit into her thigh, she keened and trembled and he knew she was close.

His fingers moved back to her clit and he speared her center with his tongue, thrusting it in and out of her as her thighs began to shake. His movements slowed as she came and Seth savored her taste as she called out his name and her fingers tightened in his hair, tugging gently. But he didn't stop, as the waves of pleasure seemed to be ebbing away he doubled his efforts once more.

By the time he was done with her, she was begging for him to stop.

He grinned at her as he settled beside her, resting on his elbow as she observed her. She was flushed and still trying to catch her breath when he bent to kiss her shoulder. "You okay?"

"I think you just killed me," she panted before turning to look at him, her lips twitching into a broad smile. Before Seth knew what was happening, he was on his back and Amber was pressing warm, open-mouthed kisses to his bare chest.

He groaned softly as her hands nimbly undid his belt and pants and he lifted his hips as she pushed them down, keeping them raised as she carefully pulled his boxer briefs down as well. He'd been absolutely throbbing for her since he'd tasted her. His erection sprang free and her soft hand wrapped around it instantly, stroking it as he kicked off the rest of his clothes completely.

"You're big," she whispered softly, green eyes shining as she looked up and met his stare.

She moved her wrist in a way that caused his hips to flex forward involuntarily, causing her to giggle. "Keep laughing, sweetheart. We'll see how hard you laugh when I'm fucking that sweet pussy."

Amber's hand stilled for a moment, before she blinked innocently up at him. "You don't want to do that, because then I won't have a chance to do this…" he was about to ask when she bent her head, dragging her tongue along his cock from base to tip before taking the head into her warm mouth.

Seth had no idea how no one had ever gone down on Amber before, because as far as she was concerned she was the blowjob queen. In the past, women he'd been with had treated it like a chore and that made sex all the more preferable, but as Amber took him deep into her mouth, tracing the underside of him with her tongue, he realized he'd been missing out. And she seemed to enjoy it as much as he did.

Enthusiastic. That was the word.

His hands found her hair but he didn't apply much pressure, not sure what he was comfortable with. But when she moaned around him, the gentle vibrations caused him to involuntarily tug her hair and lift his hips…and then she moaned harder and doubled her efforts.

"You like that?" he rasped, his fingers tightening in her hair as she looked up at him and hummed her assent. "Hold still."

Obediently, Amber stilled her motions and Seth began thrusting up, fucking her mouth. He groaned when she peered up and held eye contact with him the entire time, moaning and taking him deep. When he felt his cock hit the back of her throat, his eyes rolled back. This was not going to be a night where he won an award for stamina.

"I'm gonna cum," he warned her, his hips slowed but Amber only wrapped her hand around him again and kept her mouth on him, doubling her efforts again. As she bobbed her head along his length, she swallowed when her lips were wrapped around him at the root and as she pulled back swirled her tongue around the head. He came with a loud groan that sounded like her name mixed with some unintelligible vowel sounds let out something embarrassingly akin to a whimper when she swallowed and slowly pulled her mouth from him, licking him clean as she went.

"Did you just whimper?" she asked after a moment, her eyes shining with amusement as she crawled up his body and observed him.

"What?" he panted indignantly. "No." Her giggle told him she wasn't buying it and he wrapped an arm around her waist as she settled next to him on the floor, her head on his chest as he caught his breath. "You're…fuck. That was incredible."

She let out a soft hum and nodded. "You taste really good."

He tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head before gently lifting her so she wasn't on him anymore and searching for where he'd kicked his boxer briefs. She observed him as he found them beneath the coffee table with his pants.

She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and biting her lip before speaking. "Are you leaving?"

His eyes settled on her as he folded his clothes and put them aside. "Do you want me to?" He smiled softly when she shook her head. "Then no."

He offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet before bending and kissing her. When she inadvertently pulled back to yawn, he chuckled and rubbed her back gently. "Yeah, you wore me out a bit, too," he teased. "How about we rest for a little bit?"

"Do you want to stay the night?"

"I do. But I have to be up early for work and I don't have a change of clothes on me." He saw the disappointment on her face and kissed her forehead. "But I'm not leaving this apartment without being inside you again," he promised, smiling when she shuddered. "And I want to see you again, if that's okay with you."

When she shifted up onto her tiptoes and kissed him, he took that as his answer.


	3. Chapter 3

"What's that goofy grin for?" Orton asked from his desk, eying his partner suspiciously.

Seth straightened in his chair, shoving his cell phone away. "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, I bet it has nothing to do with that sweet little piece that walked out of here with you the other day."

"Drop it, Randy."

Seth waited a few minutes before glancing back at his phone, this time holding it beneath his desk as he read her message.

_See you tonight? This time we can order take-out._

He was about to type back a reply when the captain called out for him and his partner. Randy was quick to grab his gun, but Seth grimaced as he realized he was in for a long day. On his way to the elevator, he trailed behind as he tapped out a quick response.

_Looks like it might be a long night, but I'll see what I can do._

By the time he slid into the passengers seat, after bickering with Randy over which of them was going to drive, he felt his phone vibrate again.

_Okay, go get those bad guys. (Be careful) Xxo. _

* * *

His long day had turned into a long three days. Even with all of his years on the job, Seth had seen things that had nearly made him sick in the recent week and it turned out that the bastard was most likely going to get a pretty sweet deal and walk, all because his uncle owned a Fortune 500 company and had some political pull.

He was livid.

It was too late to be at her door, but that thought didn't enter his mind until he'd arrived and she'd already buzzed him up.

She was opening her apartment door as he was walking from the elevator; her petite form was draped in an over-sized t-shirt for some band he didn't recognize. Her hair was mussed up and he presumed she must have been sleeping when he'd called to let her know he was outside.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice thick with concern as he met her in the doorway. Instead of answering, his hands found her waist and pushed her further inside and closed the door behind them. He spun them around until her back was pressed against the door and his mouth was on hers as though he wanted to devour her.

Maybe he did.

Her hands grasped at his shoulders when he reached down, hands finding the back of her thigh and pulling her up until her legs wound around his waist. She seemed to understand what it was he needed because she dropped one hand between them to undo his pants as he fumbled for a condom from his wallet.

When he pushed her panties aside and found her already wet for him, he growled low in his throat and within a moment he pushed inside of her in one deep thrust. He set a nearly punishing pace as he thrust into her, and he could have sworn the door was rattling in its frame. She clung to him, keening his name and rolling her hips desperately to meet his rhythm. His mouth fused to hers again, his tongue slipping past her lips into her warm wet mouth.

Her thighs squeezed against his sides when she came, wailing his name and pulling his own release from him. He held her there between his body and the door as he caught his breath, his face buried against her neck. Her hand came up to soothingly stroke through his hair and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in since before he'd arrived – possibly for the past three days.

"Do you have to work in the morning?" he asked gently.

"No, it's my day off."

"I took tomorrow off," he said against her skin. "Or, rather, I was ordered to take the day off."

"Then come to bed," she whispered back.

He set her down gently, waiting for her feet to touch the floor before loosening his hold on her waist so she could guide them towards her bedroom.

She crawled into bed and turned around to look at him expectantly. He stripped down to his boxer briefs. "I haven't smiled in three days," he admitted as he climbed into bed.

Immediately, she shifted to her knees beside him, her hands reaching for his face before she gently pushed, manipulating his cheeks into an awkward smile and making him laugh. "There's one," she said softly before he shifted up to kiss her and pull her down beside him.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For that. For this," he nodded, taking her hand between them and pressing a kiss to each of her fingertips. "For answering when I called tonight. I know it's late."

She shook her head and squeezed his hand. "You needed someone."

"You. I needed to see you."

"Why me?"

His eyes met hers and he knew she wasn't fishing for a compliment or playing coy. She seemed genuinely curious. He saw something else in her eyes too and his brow furrowed.

"I don't know what it is that we're doing, Amber. And I don't know exactly what it is between us. But from the moment you walked into the precinct, I've been…drawn to you. And I…I've never been good with words."

"It's okay, I like your actions," she teased, the concerning look before fading to something more playful.

"I mean it though. I like you, a lot."

"You don't really have to explain," she said gently, fighting off a yawn. "I get it. This is just different than what I'm used to. You're different."

"'Different'?" He quirked an eyebrow up at her, pretending to be offended.

"Good different."

"Ma always did tell me I was special."

"Yeah, you're a damn snowflake, Seth," she mumbled as she curled up against him and let her eyes close.

He let out a hearty laugh before pulling her a bit closer and letting his own eyes close.

* * *

"We should get something to eat one day," Seth said, watching Amber's hips sway as she placed turned on her record player and set the needle down. It seemed that, over the recent weeks, he ended up there much more often than he did his own apartment. His roommate was beginning to wonder where it was he got off to all the time.

"We eat every time you come over. I don't know how you can think of food, we just had breakfast," she laughed and turned around to face him. She was wearing his button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up and the top few buttons undone. It fit her like a dress and his eyes drifted down to her bare legs before he remembered he'd been saying something.

"I mean, we should go out and eat in a public place…and I would pay…" he nodded.

"My, my. Detective Rollins, are you asking me out on a date?" she teased as she walked over to join him on the couch, she sat beside him but turned to face him, stretching out her legs over his lap and smiling. "I'd like that."

"How about tonight?" he asked before the sound of his phone interrupted them. He wanted to let it go to voicemail, and maybe he should have. But the responsible part of him found it on the coffee table and lifted it to his ear. "Rollins."

Amber watched him carefully as he listened to whomever was on the other end.

"Yes, sir. I understand. Where's Orton?...I can be there in thirty minutes…Yeah, got it."

He turned an apologetic look to Amber who just smiled at him and nodded. "Rain check," she said simply before standing up and walking towards the bedroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To change out of your shirt. Don't play innocent with me, Detective. Just what would happen if I took it off out there in front of you?"

"I'd be late to meet my partner," he chuckled as he stood up to wash up in the bathroom.

"Damn straight," she called back with a giggle. Moments later, she stood in the bathroom doorway with his shirt in her hand, already dressed in a bright yellow sundress. He smiled at her as she shooed him to step over slightly so that she could brush her teeth. "I'll walk you downstairs, I'm going to go to the farmer's market anyway."

"Planning on making something good tonight?"

"You'll just have to come over and see."

"I might be late, Amb."

"That's why they invented these newfangled microwaves, Seth."

He swatted her ass with his hand just as she bent over slightly to spit into the sink.


	4. Chapter 4

The thirty minutes it was supposed to take for him to meet Orton turned out to be longer because the 6 train was out of service. When he finally made it, the Crown Vic was parked outside of the building he'd been told his partner would be.

There was police tape up and a few black and whites parked nearby as well. He flashed his badge at the Uniform near the door and the tape was lifted enough for him to duck beneath it step inside.

Randy was already there, bent over the body of their victim and talking with the city medical examiner.

"What took you so long?"

"There were service issues on the 6."

"The 6 doesn't run by your apartment," Randy started before smirking. "Ah, the sweet little piece."

"Just tell me what we've got, Orton."

"Our Jane Doe is in her early 20's, no ID on her. She was stabbed multiple times. There are defensive wounds on her arms. There's no sign of blood loss here. This place most likely isn't our crime scene. Seems more like a dumpsite. The body's been positioned."

"Signs of sexual assault?" Seth asked.

"Nothing that I could tell, but she took a beating and I'll run more extensive tests when I get her to the lab," the medical examiner responded.

"What about a time of death?"

"The body was moved, I don't have anything concrete, but if I had to guess, I'd say last night at between 7:00 and 11:00pm. I can narrow that window more conclusively later."

Seth nodded before bending down to examine the victim closer. Her eyes were still open, they were green and he was struck by how much the girl reminded him of Amber.

"There's something else," the medical examiner spoke, shaking Seth from his thoughts. "The patterns of the stab marks is unusual. You see these here? They were shallow, but methodical. Meant to cause pain, but not to kill. If I had to guess this one here is the fatal one. Whoever did this knew what they were doing and they took time in making sure that she suffered as much as possible. Like I said, I'll know more once we get her to the lab."

"You okay, Rollins?" Randy asked. "You look even more green than your first day on the job."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Seth mumbled even as his stomach lurched.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Amber asked, trying to look him in the eye. But as the two of them sat together at the small Italian restaurant a few blocks from her apartment, he busied himself looking at the window, at his phone, anywhere but at her.

"Hmmm?" he asked as his eyes scanned for a server so he could ask why it was taking so long to run his credit card for the check.

"You just seem distracted. Did something happen at work?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he insisted and when she started to say something else, he cut her off, pinching the bridge of his nose and willing his headache away. "Can we just not talk at all, for a minute?" He sighed. "I don't know why the waiter is taking so long with the damn check."

A moment passed before he finally looked at her and he instantly felt a pang of guilt. Her shoulders were hunched and she was pushing around the remains of her food with her fork. She wouldn't look up at him now.

"Amber," he prodded gently as the waiter dropped the check off at the table.

Instantly, her shoulders squared and she looked at him as he signed the merchant copy of the receipt and dropped some bills onto the table for the tip. She stood up before he even put his card back into his wallet and she was taking off towards the door. His legs were longer, so he caught up with her faster than she most likely expected him to.

"I'm sorry," he tried as they walked in the direction of her apartment building.

"It's fine," she replied and he might have believed her if it hadn't taken an entire block for her to actually say it.

When she let herself into the front of her building and held the door open for him, he thought that maybe she was giving him the chance to explain himself. But the truth was, he didn't know how to. He thought maybe once they were in her apartment, the place that had become a sanctuary to him in the recent few weeks.

In the elevator, he spent the uncomfortably silent ride finally looking at her for the first time that night. Her normally straight dark hair was set in loose curls. While she normally didn't wear make up, she'd taken the time to wear some that night (not that she needed it, in his opinion). Her dress clung to her body in all of the right places. She'd taken time and care in getting ready for their first date together and he hadn't even taken a moment earlier to notice and tell her she looked beautiful.

Instead though, the moment her apartment door closed and locked behind them he found himself pulled into the bedroom and shoved against the wall with Amber's lips on his neck and her hands on his belt.

"Woah, Amb. Slow down a bit."

"Why?"

Before he could answer, her lips fused to his and he had to place his hands on her shoulders and push her gently away.

When he finally put some distance between them, the look on her face tore through his heart.

"Amber, I'm sorry about earlier," he tried again, hoping to make the look of hurt disappear from her face.

"It's fine," she insisted. "I get it."

"No, I don't think that you do."

"I do. Seth, I'm not stupid. There are the kinds of girls that you date. And then there are the kinds of girls you call up at 3 in the morning because there's no place else to go. They are not interchangeable. It was sweet of you to try," she laughed softly, but it wasn't the giggle that made something warm spread inside his chest. It made him feel even more hollow inside than he had before he'd come to pick her up. "This is what we do," she concluded, her hands finding his belt again but he pried her hands away and lifted his own to cup her face.

"It's not you, okay? It's the case I'm working on," he explained, but her expression remained impassive. "It was brutal, and we're no closer to catching the guy than we were when we started. The victim, she was in her early twenties, dark hair, green eyes. She reminded me of you." Seth felt all of his control slipping, his voice cracked with emotion and suddenly her arms were around him.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I'm okay. I'm sorry for getting so upset, Seth."

"You have every right to be upset with me, by all accounts I was a pretty horrible first date."

"What if that was just a practice run? We can try again, but only if you really want to."

"I do." Seth wound his arms around her, one hand finding the zipper of her dress and tugging it down. She shrugged out of it until it pooled at her feet and bent to kiss him. Her own thumbs hooked in the waistband of her panties, but he grabbed her wrists and shook his head. "Tonight we sleep. Tomorrow, we do whatever you want. Wherever you want to go. And we'll have a do-over date."

"I have to work late tomorrow night. But soon?"

"Soon. And tomorrow night, I want to come pick you up from work and walk you home."

"Seth," she started softly but didn't continue to argue, instead she just nodded and sat down on his lap. "But all the girls I work with will be so jealous when you show up. I'm going to have to beat 'em back with a stick."

Grinning, he met her lips with his own.

* * *

He knew that something was wrong. He watched her as she bustled around her apartment, straightening up and fussing around with things that didn't need fussing over.

She was in the kitchen, reaching up to the cupboards to fuss with her coffee mugs before he stepped behind her, arm wrapping around her waist and dropping a kiss to her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

"Well, for one thing, I've been here for an hour and you haven't stopped moving around. Did you alphabetize your cereal earlier?"

She sighed softly and he loosened his hold enough for her to turn around, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "I got a call back about a job, I did an on-the-spot interview at a recruitment event before I even met you. I never thought they'd really consider me."

"You sell yourself short. What's the job?"

"It's position with the FBI, analyst work," she muttered. "If I get it, there's a nine week training program in Quantico."

"In Virginia," he said slowly, his hold loosening on her.

"I don't have to take it. I mean I applied to a bunch of jobs in New York too."

"But you want it," he said gently, dipping his chin to rest his forehead against hers. They stood there like that for a moment and when she opened her mouth to break the silence, he kissed her instead, his tongue running over her lower lip just before she wrapped her arms around him.

He lifted her onto the kitchen counter and she parted her legs so he could step between them, he dropped kisses to her neck, her shoulder; any part of her that he could reach. His hands skimmed up her thighs and gripped them tightly and he smiled against her skin when she started tugging on his shirt to pull it over his head. The moment she'd rid him of it, he kissed the tip of her nose.

"Come on," he said gently, stepping back to help her down. He led her to the bedroom, stopping short of the bed and stepping behind her to drag down the zipper of her dress. He pressed his lips against every inch of skin as it was exposed to him before she pushed it off of her shoulders and it pooled at her feet.

When she climbed onto the bed and reclined against the pillows, he took a moment to look at her, to memorize every curve.

"Stop," she said softly.

"What?"

"Stop looking at me like that. Like you're worried about forgetting…"

He joined her on the bed, crawling between her legs and bending down to kiss her.

"I could stay," she whispered against his lips, her hands sliding down his chest to the button of his jeans, her fingers deftly undoing them and pushing them down his hips. He stroked himself as she looked up at him expectantly but, in all honesty, he didn't trust himself to speak just yet. She reached for a condom from her end table and sat up slightly, tearing the foil package and expertly rolling it over his length. He groaned at the sight of her hands on him and kissed her lips again, before reaching to drag the head of his cock along her wet folds.

When he slid inside of her, her eyes fluttered closed and he pressed kisses to her lips, her cheeks, her eyelids – everywhere. The pace they set was slow and she arched her body to meet his every thrust, he whispered for her to open her eyes and she did – staring into his own eyes as their bodies moved together.

She chanted his name like it was a prayer. He found her hands, lacing his fingers with hers and pinning them to the bed as he felt his restraint snap. He fused his lips to hers as he came and soon after her own thighs trembled and her tighten and flutter around him, milking the last of his release from his body.

They stayed like that for a few more moments, trading soft kisses.

"I know you could stay," he finally whispered when their breathing had evened out. "But I don't want you to miss out on this opportunity."

"So this is it?" Her voice was so small and unsure, Seth was halfway tempted to tell her to stay – to keep exploring what this was between them. The past few weeks had been incredible and the thought of letting her go made his chest feel tight. "We never had our second first date."

"Hey." He brought her hand up and nudged her chin gently until she met his gaze again. "This isn't it. Not by a long shot. I'll see you again."

"How do you know?" When he remained silent for a long moment, she shook her head. "Never mind. I don't want to talk about it right now." She curled into him and he felt her shoulders shake lightly and knew that she was crying. Everything he seemed to want to say to her wouldn't come out, so instead he kissed her on the top of the head and held her until she fell asleep.

…

"Is this all you're going with?" Seth asked as he watched her zip up her suitcase.

"Yeah, my family is going to keep the apartment for me until training is over. Depending on where my first assignment is, we'll ship or store what's left." Amber fiddled around before walking to her record player, closing it and latching it up and putting a stack of records on top of it. "I want you to take this."

Seth blinked at her for a moment before shaking his head. "I can't take your record player, Amber."

"You're just holding it on for me. I have the bigger one from my bedroom that I'm going to eventually ship and I want you to have this one. Please?"

He sighed and nodded before reaching out for her, pulling her against him. "I'm going to miss you while you're gone."

She sighed softly and hugged him back tightly. "I'll see you again," she echoed his words from over a week ago, the night she'd fallen asleep crying softly in his arms. Since then, she'd passed the final interview stages and had been accepted to the analyst training program.

"You will," he promised, dipping his head down to kiss her softly.

"We don't say goodbye then," she insisted.

"Okay."

"Can I call you?"

"You can call me as often as you want, Amber. I want you to." They stood there for a moment in her living room before she bobbed her head and reluctantly took a step back. "Come on, your uncle is waiting downstairs in the car."

He dragged her suitcase behind them as they left her apartment and, inside the elevator, he let go of the handle to push her gently against the wall and capture her lips with his own. She moaned softly into his mouth, one hand reaching up to tangle fingers in his hair. When they pulled away, she looked up at him sadly. "That felt like 'goodbye.'"

"Nah," he shook his head. "That was just me trying to get something to hold me over until I see you again." He smiled at her when the sad look on her face dissipated and she giggled.

Much like he did the first time that they met, she watched him from the side view mirror when her uncle's car pulled away from the curb to drive her to the airport. Her eyes didn't leave him until the car turned a corner and he was out of view.


	5. Chapter 5

Everything happed so quickly that Seth wasn't even sure what was going on. Normally he kept a level head in situations like this, but something was different.

Randy had always been a little quick to jump the gun, but his anger went above and beyond. Their back up was still at least five minutes out with one victim bleeding out on the floor after being shot by their goddamn suspect (which led Seth to believe he was, in fact, their guy), they didn't have those five minutes.

And then Randy got trigger happy, but missed the mark.

That was when things got strange.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Orton. I felt the wind off of that one. Watch it."

Seth cursed when Orton came out from his cover and glared at their suspect. Dave Batista was a bastard who had been on the city's radar since before Seth even joined the force. He was strictly an enforcer, and somehow the politics between the homicide, organized crime, and narcotics division kept anyone from ever getting this close to him. But the trail of bodies the man had left behind as a career criminal made Seth sick.

"What the fuck are you playing at, Dave?"

"I'm taking care of business, Randy. H's orders. You weren't supposed to be here."

"Well you got sloppy!" Orton barked back. "I can't keep them off your ass forever."

"What the fuck is going on?" Seth finally interrupted, his gun trained on Batista.

"You're calling me sloppy, and you're the one that brought a loose end?"

Seth's eye's flicked to Randy, realizing his partner's gun was trained on him and not their suspect. Randy had been an experienced detective when Seth was assigned as his partner. The man had taught him everything from day one; he'd been a mentor and a partner. Even as the pieces of their conversation clicked together, Seth was having trouble absorbing it.

"Go," Randy ordered, his voice all too calm.

Batista leveled a glare at Seth before doing as he was told.

"Put it down," Randy said to Seth, when he didn't do it he stepped closer. "For fuck's sake, watch where you're pointing that thing." Seth did his best to keep his hand steady as he lowered his gun, but he didn't holster it quite yet.

"What the hell is going on, Orton?"

Randy heaved a sigh. "Do you know I'm worth more to my wife dead than alive, Rollins? That my life insurance will take care of her more than I can as a detective with a shit pension? What kind of man does that make me if I can't provide for her?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're a kid still, you think there's only one kind of justice in this world. But let me tell you something, the guys that have Batista in their pockets? They have politicians there too, and judges, and lawyers. So I get my own kind of justice, the one that suits me and my family," Randy explained. "There's a cut in there for you, too, Rollins."

Seth's eyes narrowed. "And if I say no?"

"Well, I guess that depends on what else you're going to say and to who."

Seth was conflicted. His sense of loyalty to his longtime partner and his commitment to the job pulling him in different directions.

Seth opened his mouth to reply when their backup came crashing through the door. Randy turned to them. "We need a bus, we have a GSW to the chest. Our suspect was already in the wind when we got here," the lie seemed to slip out so easily and then he glanced at Seth who nodded and holstered his gun.

In the Crown Vic, Randy and Seth drove back to the precinct in silence. As they turned a corner, Randy spoke. "You made a good choice today, Seth. You know I'm your partner, and now that I know you really have my back, I'm always going to make sure you're taken care of. They're going to make sure you're taken care of." Seth was about to ask who 'they' were exactly, until Randy continued. "We're not really hurting anyone."

"Orton, you've been my partner and my friend for years. Turning on you was never really an option. I have no choice," Seth said slowly as they parked in front of the precinct building. He waited until they were in the elevator, just about to arrive on their floor to open his mouth again. "But, you're wrong."

Ten minutes later, Seth's badge and gun were on the captain's desk and he brushed past Randy on his way out of the building.

* * *

"You quit?" Amber asked. He watched her brow furrow in concern on his computer screen. "What happened?"

His roommate, Dean, was still fussing around the living room of their apartment.

"Seth?" her voice captured his attention again.

"I just did."

"You loved your job, though."

"I need some time, Amber. Everything is so fucked right now. And even if I loved it, doing that job day in and day out and knowing it would never be enough."

"I wish I were in New York," she said softly, but he wouldn't look up at the screen.

"Why?"

"To be there for you."

"Yeah, well. You aren't."

"That's not fair, Seth," she spoke gently, trying to avoid an argument. "You knew I'd be gone for training, you encouraged me to do it. I told you I would have stayed…"

"And resented me eventually for holding you back?"

"I wouldn't have." Seth let out a harsh laugh and Amber frowned. "Listen, maybe we shouldn't have this discussion right now. You've had a rough day. Tomorrow, I can…"

"Maybe we shouldn't have it at all," he interjected suddenly, ignoring Dean as he plopped down into an armchair adjacent to the couch Seth was on. "Listen, maybe we should just call this what it is and cut our losses."

He looked up to see Amber's posture stiffen as she tried to wipe the emotion on her face. "Well, what do you call it, Seth?"

"Fun while it lasted. You said it best, there are the kind of girls you date and take home to meet your folks, and then there's…fun. We played house for a few weeks and it was great, but it's really not going any place, is it?"

Dean was currently waving his hands around wildly trying to get Seth's attention, and Seth glanced up just as Amber responded.

"Okay," she paused. "I should go." He heard it – the crack in her voice. He glanced back just in time to see her again, her eyes shining with tears she was blinking back before she reached forward and disconnected their video chat.

"Dude," Dean finally exclaimed. "What the fuck?"

"Don't start."

"No, I'm going to start. You fucking quit your job and then you say _that_ to _her_. I've known you for a long time and I know that was bullshit. The few weeks that you spent with her, you were the happiest I've seen you in a long time and it wasn't because you were 'playing house.'"

"I know," Seth admitted, slumping down on the couch. "But what's going on right now with me? She doesn't need to focus on that. She needs to go through training and focus on herself."

"That's some ass backwards chivalrous crap that you're going to regret. But I guess I get it. Come on, let's go get a drink. Even I need one after listening to that shit."

Seth nodded dumbly at his friend, pushing his laptop aside and standing up off the couch. What he didn't say was that he already did regret it. And what killed him the most was how easily she'd believed it.

* * *

Two weeks had gone by, and by all accounts Seth was feeling like one sorry son of a bitch. He stood at a billiards table in the bar where Dean worked as a bouncer with their old friend, Roman. Dean had joined him after his shift had ended while Roman lamented his own career choices. Roman had been their college roommate before he dropped out and joined the military. Seth was never too privy to what it was Roman had done while enlisted, but apparently it was 'serious classified Navy SEAL shit' (according to Dean, who claimed that was the technical terminology).

"Screaming crowds of teenagers and melodramatic pop princesses, I don't need this shit anymore, man."

"Pays the bills though, right?" Seth offered in a weak attempt at making his friend feel better.

"Maybe you should start doing it too, Rollins. You know, what with bills to pay." Dean teased his roommate. Seth had eventually explained to Dean what had happened with Randy in confidence, and Dean had supported his decision and was able to help cover some of Seth's share of the rent while he was looking for new work (and was also all too glad to share that he'd never trusted Randy to begin with).

Roman looked at them and sighed, taking a deep pull from his beer bottle. "There is another option. I got a call from a former employer about a job, nothing steady – just a one-off. It's less than his company will deign to handle itself but more than I can bite off on my own."

"What kind of job?" Seth asked curiously.

"Security and reconnaissance."

"And your former employer is from which job? The Qwik-mart off campus freshman year?"

Roman grinned knowingly at Seth. "That's classified. But, if I were to find someone who wanted to help me with the job, especially someone with a specific skill set, they could be read in on a need-to-know basis."

Dean's eyes lit up. "What's the pay?"

"A solid six figures…for all three of us."

Dean let out a low whistle and was, quite obviously, chomping at the bit to get involved. Seth remained calm.

"I need to know more," Seth insisted, but he leaned in a bit and met Roman's eyes as the big man nodded at him. "We should probably talk about this somewhere else, though."

Their conversation was interrupted by a ruckus near the bar. It looked like shouting and the beginnings of a brawl. They heard some glasses shatter and one of the cocktail waitresses shriek and Dean sighed. "Hold that thought." Seth and Roman watched in amusement as Dean grabbed a pool cue and muttered something about never getting overtime before marching over to the brawl in question.

Seth chuckled as they watched. "What skill set does Dean have?"

Roman's eyebrow arched up as they heard someone howl out in pain and Dean's voice distinctly taunting the guy.

"He's not afraid to get his hands dirty?"

"Dean, that's enough!" shrieked the cocktail waitress.

"Have you ever had to arrest him?"

"Nope."

"Surprising."

"Tell me about it. I think if I'd stuck with the force another year, I would have at least gotten a bail call."

* * *

The job was simple enough. Someone had data that they weren't supposed to have. That someone also had a bounty on his head. Roman's associate added a bonus on top of that price in order to make sure the information was retrieved cleanly and that they got a turn at talking to the guy before he was turned over to the Feds.

Between Seth's law enforcement experience, Roman's military training and Dean's ability to…think like a criminal, the three of them had turned it all around pretty quickly and Roman had been accurate in calling it a solid pay day for about three week's worth of work.

It happened fluidly from there, and Seth surprised himself by being the one that suggested it. But soon Roman was calling up some former contacts to put the word out and Dean was like a kid on Christmas Eve and the three of them were planning to go into business together.

Seth was the one that came up with the name. He also had some pretty high demands for standards. While the pay was nice, their mission was always justice. They picked up where the law left off or fell short. Dean could get his hands dirty if he had to rough someone up a bit, but at the end of the day they didn't take jobs outside of their comfort zone – or more specifically, Seth and Roman's comfort zone rather than Dean's.

They also settled on a name for their operation, and Roman ran the idea by a tattoo artist friend of his who even designed them a logo.

Roman found all of Seth's terms agreeable. Dean found the logo to be agreeable (or, as Dean put it: bitchin'). Seth found himself wishing he could call Amber and tell her.

* * *

**A.N: **Well, that's the end of this one. As stated earlier, I did have a sequel for this completely written, but as I was working on the edits for the chapters to prepare, I realized that I really didn't like the direction I took it in - that much of it was forced. However there is a sequel coming, I've begun rewriting it as well as a second AU story and a story based on the WWE Universe. Thank you guys for reading this. Stay tuned. :P


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